Resonate Series

The Resonate series is a new wave of commentary that recovers the ancient wisdom of Scripture and helps us understand how it resonates with our complex world. Contributors like Matthew Woodley, Soong-Chan Rah and Tim Keel join series editor Paul Louis Metzger to bring the stories and insights of each book of the Bible into conversation with contemporary voices of hope and lament--the cultural messages we interact with on a daily basis. The result is a practical, pastoral, biblically grounded and culturally conscious un-commentary that may just change the way we interact with Scripture forever.

In the Resonate series the Scriptures become a meeting ground where God is confronted with the pressing concerns of our day, and we are confronted in turn with a fresh experience of God's truth.

"Those of us who work daily to communicate biblical truth to congregations of people whom we dearly love crave a couple things if we are being intellectually honest. One, how can I know what the original author meant to convey to his original hearers in their context? And two, how do I build a bridge from that message, time and context to my own? Other commentators of course have done
this, but few with the contemporary, classy elegance of the the Resonate Series. These commentaries will live on my desk, not sit on my shelf."

Todd Hunter, Anglican bishop and author of Giving Church Another Chance

"The Resonate series invites us in from the cold of theological obscurity and engages us in the kind of biblical dialogue we hope for every time we sit down with a trusted mentor."

Penny Carothers, social justice editor, Burnside Writers Collective

"Resonate helps readers examine Scripture in a contemporary context. It's Oswald Chambers and Max Lucado meet Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times. The result is an engaging, intelligent, modern-day study."

Eileen Button, author of When Faith Is a Four-Letter Word

"We have theologians, we have cultural critics, and we have biblical exegetes, but it is difficult to find people who aim to blend the three together in a lively and faithful way. Paul Metzger is such a person, and in this new series he aspires to gather folks who share these passions, aiming to make it ever more clear how the gospel illumines the world in which we live. This series ably attempts to keep the 'two horizons' always in view: one looking to the ancient text, and the other looking to our day in which we read and apply the text. This is no easy task, and the landmines are many. But Metzger is worth listening to as he carefully yet freshly seeks to chart a path that blends together the story of redemption and cultural engagement, all the while writing in a very accessible manner. May Metzger's book and this whole series help us all to do just that."

Kelly M. Kapic, professor of theological studies, Covenant College

"Interpreting the Bible is the task of every Christian, and most of us get lost somewhere between what it meant then and what it means now. Both are necessary if our understanding of the text and our living out the text is to have any integrity. The Resonate series helps us bridge this divide, taking us back to the original meaning--and walking us forward to today so that we might live and be the light this dark world so desperately needs."

Brett C. Blair, founder of www.Sermons.com and www.Seminary.com

"Resonate bridges the culture gap between our contemporary lives and the ancient context of
biblical times. This series connects with the deepest part of what makes us who we are . . . our
stories. Reading a Resonate volume is more like a conversation than an information dump. This conversation connects my story to a much larger story . . . which is true resonance."

Mark Miller, author of Experiential Storytelling

"God's truth is all around us--we hear echoes of God in songs that touch our hearts, we catch a glimpse of God in films that stir our souls. Resonate recognizes this. This new series reveals the deep and beautiful truths of Scripture in fresh and culturally relevant ways. Resonate helps us to understand Scripture and connect it to our lives and daily experiences."

"Most commentaries deliver their goods as monologues--microscopes designed to magnify each inspired pen stroke of Scripture. The Resonate series offers readers an entirely different kind of interaction with the Word, as the series explores the texture, color, flame and light of God's message to us. This unique series is designed to draw readers into the rich themes of each section and story--and provoke the kind of internal dialogue with the Lord and others that moves readers beyond information toward transformation."

Michelle Van Loon, author of Parable Life: Living the Stories of Jesus in Real Time and Uprooted: Growing a Parable Life from the Inside Out

"I could not think of a better name for this series than Resonate. It truly resonates fidelity to the biblical text and relevancy to the contemporary culture. As a pastor constantly in search of fresh insight into both, I could not ask for more."

David Stevens, senior pastor, Central Bible Church, Portland, Oregon

"The Resonate series is a sorely needed fusion of biblical and cultural interpretation that keeps the story of Scripture at the center, while consistently connecting it with readers today. If you want to take your Bible study to the next level, I can think of no better guide than Resonate."

Ed Cyzewski, author of Coffeehouse Theology

"My favorite reading materials are biblical commentaries. In the Resonate series, we find a piece of ourselves, we hear words of the same substance of which our own souls are made and, just when we thought ourselves alone in feeling this or thinking that, we find that we are in good company."

Leonard Sweet, author and missiologist

"We have plenty of wonderful academic commentaries out there, and they are extremely needed. But what Resonate is doing is showing the raw, honest, wrestling, joyful, struggling, questioning, helpful ways that biblical truths move from the ancient text into the reality of our day-to-day living in the culture that we're in."

Dan Kimball, founding pastor, Vintage Faith, and author, They Like Jesus but Not the Church

"For years, people have been asking to borrow my commentaries. Each time I share them with apologies: 'They're kind of technical and not altogether practical.' Now, when I share the Resonate series, I'll do it with pleasure. These books are practical, rich in images and completely useful in every way. This is a great gift to every student of God's Word."

Keith Potter, pastor and author, Unshakeable

"The Resonate series promises fresh, inspiring insight into Scripture that is powerfully living and wildly active."

Paul Louis Metzger (PhD, University of London) is professor of Christian theology and theology of culture and founder and director of The Institute for the Theology of Culture at Multnomah Biblical Seminary. He is also editor of the journal Cultural Encounters, coeditor of the book A World for All? Global Civil Society in Political Theory and Trinitarian Theology (with William F. Storrar and Peter J. Casrella), and the award-winning author of Consuming Jesus.